Mercedes ‘cannot take anything for granted’ – Wolff

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff warns against any complacency from his different teams, saying the German constructor ‘cannot take it for granted’ that it will be able to repeat last year’s achievements easily.

Mercedes enjoyed a superb 2015 campaign across many motor racing series, not only stamping its authority on both Formula One world championships but also starring in DTM with new Manor recruit Pascal Wehrlein.

What’s more, fellow junior Esteban Ocon dominated the GP3 Series on debut, while Mercedes-powered Felix Rosenqvist won the FIA European Formula 3 title.

Despite Mercedes being already tipped as the heavy favourite to retain its F1 crowns following a strong showing in pre-season testing, Wolff refuses to get carried away.

“It’s very important to manage all the expectations because we had a really great season in many different categories last year but it is the past,” he said at the manufacturer’s 2016 kick off ceremony in Stuttgart.

“All points have been reset to zero so we must re-start the challenge from the beginning. You cannot take for granted that you will win as many categories as last year.

“We need to work very hard for each of them and hopefully we can have another successful year.”

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Julien Billiotte

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